A child’s birth is an exciting and happy time and is usually one of the most significant milestones of a person’s life. In rare circumstances, however, the birth of a child can be a traumatic and disconcerting event where the child suffers from a catastrophic birth injury. If your child has been diagnosed with cerebral palsy or other birth injuries, you may recall conduct that may have seemed normal at the time, but when looking back, it was not so normal, and which may have constituted medical malpractice.
There are resources available to help you determine if you can pursue a medical malpractice claim because of cerebral palsy. To pursue a medical malpractice claim because of your child’s cerebral palsy, you must provide evidence that shows your child’s medical condition could have been averted had the medical staff or medical facility been more attentive or done something different during childbirth. To establish that the child’s cerebral palsy is a birth injury, you will have to prove that (1) the medical staff or the providing facility exhibited conduct that was inappropriate or unreasonable at the time and given the circumstances, and (2) that your child, in fact, did suffer a birth injury.
If your child has suffered a birth injury due to medical malpractice, they could suffer from various neurological and developmental complications, ranging from mild cognitive impairment all the way to severe cerebral palsy. If you believe that the attending physician, nurse, anesthesiologist, or the hospital fell below the applicable standard of care, you have the legal right to pursue a medical malpractice lawsuit.
Birth Injury Symptoms To Watch for
A specific kind of brain or nerve damage that happens during, before, or shortly after childbirth, a birth injury can significantly impact a child’s life. A child with nerve or brain trauma from childbirth is at a higher risk of being diagnosed with a long term neurological injury, such as cerebral palsy.
Obstetricians and gynecologists usually do everything that they can to ensure that a baby is born healthy. With that said, certain cases of cerebral palsy and other birth injuries are preventable, caused by hospital or physician conduct that is inappropriate or inexcusable.
If your child is born with a birth injury, you may not discover that injury immediately. While some signs or symptoms of a birth injury can be seen during the delivery or pregnancy, other signs and symptoms may only become evident days, weeks, or even months after the child’s birth.
Some of the more common signs of a birth injury that can be noticed at the time of birth include low oxygen levels, weak or absent reflexes, excessive drooling, skull fractures, reduced heart rate, hands that are curled into the shape of a claw, muscle looseness or stiffness, a back that is arched during crying, failure to nurse, and seizures.
Pursuing a Medical Malpractice Claim for Cerebral Palsy
If your child has been diagnosed with cerebral palsy or other types of birth injury and you believe that it was preventable, you should speak with a medical malpractice attorney. Call the Trial Law Office of Bradley I. Kramer, M.D., Esq., to get a free case review.